Refinery

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT REFINERY - PAGE 4

MUMBAI: The Essar Group has once again sought the Petroleum Ministry's intervention for completion and start of its much-delayed 10.5 million tonnes Vadinar refinery and has asked for equity participation in the project by an unwilling Indian Oil Corporation. "In a communication to the ministry two months ago, Essar Oil wrote that it wanted IOC to invest around $100 million in the incomplete project and also sign a marketing agreement with it for sale of the products," top ministry officials told PTI. An Essar Group spokesperson said Essar Oil is in the process of completing its balance work at the site within 18-24 months and has achieved financial closure with the group already investing over Rs 6,300 crore in the delayed project.

SINGAPORE: The price of crude on Wednesday edged up in Asia, driven by fresh fears that US refineries may not be able to cope with increased demand as the North American summer driving season kicks in. Light, sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 11 cents to USD 49.08 a barrel in midmorning electronic trading in Asia. The contract fell as low as USD 48.05 overnight. Gasoline prices, which rose about three cents in New York, ticked up to USD 1.4354 a gallon while heating oil was higher at USD 1.3757 a gallon.

MUMBAI: The Essar group has once again sought the petroleum ministry's intervention for completion and start of its much-delayed 10.5-m tonne Vadinar refinery and has asked for equity participation in the project by an unwilling Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). "In a communication to the ministry two months ago, Essar Oil wrote that it wanted IOC to invest around $100m in the incomplete project and also sign a marketing agreement with it for sale of the products," top ministry officials said.

Rajasthan and J&K are the only large states without a refinery. Rajasthan did not produce crude, and the market was relatively small till Cairn discovered crude. After commerciality was established, ONGC proposed in 2004 to build a refinery near Barmer. Conversion facilities are usually set up near the source of the inputs or at the market for the output, as crude alone accounts for more than 90% of input cost.

HOUSTON: BP said on Tuesday that it accepted responsibility for a deadly explosion at its Texas City, Texas, oil refinery that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others on March 23. BP said employees made "deeply disturbing" mistakes that led to the blast at the nation's fourth largest refinery, but a labour union official said that the London-based company failed to provide a safe workplace. Five BP employees, two of them supervisors, were fired for their roles in the event, according to sources familiar with the matter.

CHENNAI: The 13th refinery technology meet ( RTM) being held at Mahabalipuram from November 5 to 7 will see eminent speakers and experts from the oil and gas industry, R & D institutions, engineering consultants, process licensors, catalyst manufacturers, both from India and abroad deliberate on recent advances in technologies for the oil sector, especially refineries besides covering various aspects of global energy scenario. Organised by the Centre for High Technology ( CHT)

MUMBAI: Bharat Oman Refineries , a company promoted by state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation with equity participation from Oman Oil Company , is raising $140 million (Rs 737 crore) of external commercial borrowing for its refinery project at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. BORL will raise the US-dollar term loan at an annual interest rate of 3.45% above Libor, or London inter-bank offered rate. Bankers said that the company was able to get an attractive rate since the ECB has irrevocable and unconditional guarantee from BPCL.

MUMBAI/JAMNAGAR: If they had migrated to a big city, they might have ended up fixing a drainage pipe or welding a broken gate. But thousands of young, untrained workers from around the country chose to go to a dry coastal town in Gujarat. More than two years later, the decision has proved fruitful. They are not only making the best money, they have also learnt skills that will help them get good jobs in future. Jamnagar, the jewel of Kathiawar, has a rich royal history, but over the past decade, its name has become synonymous with a large-scale petroleum refinery that Reliance Industries runs there.

BHUBANESWAR: Nearly two decades after it began work, the 1.5-million-tonne alumina refinery project of Utkal Alumina International (UAIL), a subsidiary of the Kumar Mangalam Birla's Hindalco , is finally taking off by the end of March or first week of April. "We hope to commission the plant by end of March," Utkal Alumina International (UAIL) MD and CEO Rajesh Jha told ET on Wednesday. The plant in Odisha's Rayagada district was mooted way back in 1992 to tap huge deposits of bauxite in the area and produce alumina.

NEW DELHI: Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's biggest company, will begin commissioning of its long-delayed Rs 34,500 crore Paradip refinery from the first quarter of 2015. "Once fully operational, this 15 million tonnes a year flagship refinery will further strengthen IOC's position as India's premier refiner and also add substantially to our bottomline," a company statement quoted its Director (Refineries) Sanjiv Singh as saying. He said commissioning will begin from the first quarter of 2015 but did not say by when the full unit will be commissioned.